Strike 3: News that the NFL was significantly raising the salary cap for next season (Thank you Taylor Swift?) was undoubtedly greeted with cheers at Dove Valley. The new cap is set at $255.4 million per team for all player compensation. It was $224.8 mil last season.
The new cap will give the Broncos (whose ownership is the richest in football) about $30 million more to work with. They go from being more than $21 million over the cap at the moment to being just over $10 million in the hole. That certainly helps.
Now they can just kick Russell Wilson to the curb, right?
Not exactly.
Obviously there are very smart math people down at Broncos HQ, and having extra room to maneuver within the boundaries is more than welcome. They will figure out the best way to get themselves out from under Wilson’s albatross of a contract. Clearly, even after he put up Pro Bowl caliber numbers last season before being unceremoniously benched for the last two games, Wilson’s time being teamed with head coach Sean Payton is up. They’ll find a way to release him and begin what will be a multi-year rebuilding process in an effort to become the team their $18 million per year head coach wants them to be.
The expanded cap should allow Denver to perhaps keep a hold of some players who might have otherwise been salary cap casualties. That’s a nice bonus for sure. But does the extra room solve all that ails the franchise at the moment? Absolutely not.
There are still major hurdles to overcome as the rebuild begins. First, remember that every other NFL team is also getting the same boost in their respective caps. That means every other team will be able to keep and acquire players they might previously have been unable to afford. It means fewer free agents will hit the market.
Second, Payton’s handling of Wilson raised eyebrows (and more?) inside the Broncos locker room. It’s obvious that other players in other venues are also well aware of how things have gone down. Payton had an iffy reputation coming in, so the perception of him among many prospective free agents is probably not quite what the Broncos would like it to be. If the dollars are basically the same, it’s likely that a lot of players would opt to sign with a franchise that employs someone considered a more “player friendly” coach, like Mike Tomlin or even Antonio Pierce.
It’s true that the players do not have to love you as a head coach. But they’ve got to not dislike you, either.
The biggest issue here is that free agency and salary caps are really the issue at all. The biggest issue is that Denver must do a far better job building a solid foundation through this upcoming NFL Draft as well as drafts in the not-too-distant future. Free agent signings should be used to supplement the draft process, not replace it. The Broncos aren’t going to become a consistent, year-in-year-out playoff team by overpaying for other teams’ free agents. That’s what got them in this mess to begin with.
The Wilson contract aside, Denver hasn’t done all that great in the free agent market in recent years. They spent big on the offensive line last off season, and the results didn’t come close matching the expenditures.
After they figure out the Wilson situation, the Broncos would be wise to use this new salary cap benefit to lock up their most valuable assets, Justin Simmons and Patrick Surtain II, for the long term. Start drafting better and subsequently rewarding the young Broncos who’ve earned big paydays, rather than throwing money at areas of weakness hoping they’ll fix themselves.
